An automatic production line of tofu, the materials of which are soybeans, is a huge processing apparatus mechanically connecting via a conveyance line various kinds of apparatus sharing in various steps from the materials up to tofu products packaged in form of selling.
In the automatic tofu production line, various apparatus sharing in various kinds of steps different in processing content are connected in series. In addition, the processing contents the individual connected apparatus take care of fall in various kinds of fields, and the steps different in processing difficulty are mixed.
One of the steps high in processing difficulty in the automatic tofu production line is a step of packing tofu. The methods of packing tofu include the method performing the step in an onshore space (“onshore filling”) and a method performing the step in water. The method of performing the packing work in the space that is so-called “onshore filling” (also called “hill filling) is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3343134 C (Patent Document 1) and comprises combining a conveyor for conveying blocks of tofu and a pack conveyor for supplying packaging packs in an intersecting direction, moving the blocks of tofu from the terminal of the conveyor to a shutter plate with companies' own devices (a feed blade plate, for example), pressing the blocks of tofu against a stopper plate to position the blocks of tofu on the packaging packs on the pack conveyor, and retracting the shutter plate to drop the positioned blocks of tofu on the packaging packs.
In addition, JP 2007-006759 A (Patent Document 3) discloses the steps of feeding blocks of tofu on an inclined chute, aslant dropping the blocks of tofu to house the blocks of tofu in going-with operating packaging packs.
On the other hand, the method of packing blocks of tofu in water is a polite method conforming to a traditional manual work and a method of precisely cutting the blocks of tofu without injuring the same and accurately housing the blocks of tofu in packaging packs. In addition, JP H7-95927 B (Patent Document 2) discloses a method adopted focusing the advantage capable of treating the blocks of tofu while diminishing the weight of the blocks of tofu during being treated by exerting buoyancy on the blocks of tofu and comprising the steps of introducing a pack conveyor in a water tank, dispensing the blocks of tofu cut in water correspondingly to the conveyance interval of the supplied packs, positioning the dispensed individual blocks of tofu with a positioning device exercising its own ingenuity, then releasing the blocks of tofu, housing the blocks of tofu in the packs so as to skim the blocks of tofu in the packs and sending out the housed blocks of tofu out of the water tank.